SYRIA is getting scary....

[Guest]

Assad has now killed thousands of people...this man who Obama once praised him and has waited so long has finally been called to step down by Obama.

Secy Clinton sort of hints that before we become actively engaged their neighbors must get "involved"

"Clinton was asked by one audience member whether the more limited U.S. responses to recent Middle East unrest suggests that the United States is no longer prepared to preserve stability in troubled corners of the globe. Clinton replied that Americans would still lead, but she said the administration’s message to the world was that the United States would not carry the burden alone."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/checkpoint-washington/post/clinton-defends-syria-policy/2011/08/16/gIQALEjYJJ_blog.html

If he does not step down and continues the killing, what action do we take and this must be considered in this context....

"Syria Has the Largest and Most Advanced Chemical Weapons Stockpile in the Middle East

A front page WaPo article this morning warns that Syria has the largest confirmed stockpile of chemical weapons throughout the Middle East. Syria has repeatedly refused to sign the U.N. chemical weapons convention barring use of the weapons. The government of Syria’s Bashar al Assad is estimated to have also amassed the most advanced chemical weapons including weaponized Sarin-based warheads. The newspaper citing the CIA as its source says most of Syria’s current chemical arsenal was built by the Russians. Sarin was used by Japanese terrorists in a Tokyo subway in 1995 killing 13 people and blinding or sickening 1,000."

http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/08/29/syria-has-the-largest-and-most-advanced-chemical-weapons-stockpile-in-the-middle-east/

And also consider this...

"BASHAR AL-ASSAD is proving to be an embarrassment for the Obama administration. In pursuit of President Obama’s policy of “engagement” with U.S. adversaries, the State Department has dispatched several senior envoys to Damascus for talks with the Syrian dictator. It has also nominated a new ambassador and repeatedly expressed the hope for a step-by-step improvement in relations. So far Mr. Assad has responded by holding a summit with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, at which he publicly ridiculed the U.S diplomatic initiative. In secret, he has stepped up an illegal and dangerous transfer of weapons to Hezbollah’s forces in Lebanon."

http://www.yalibnan.com/2010/04/26/assad-proving-to-be-an-embarrassment-for-obama/

This is a very very delicate situation and one that is scary. I agree with Obama in taking his time with this but it has to be dealt with. If you look at a map and see the proximity of Israel it makes you concerned.

[Guest]

Nobody seems to feel this is important to discuss but this is getting worse...

""The accounts of torture we have received are horrific," said Neil Sammonds, Amnesty's Syria researcher. "We believe the Syrian government to be systematically persecuting its own people on a vast scale."

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/08/31/syria.unrest/

[Guest]

Bucco, actions like this just show how really importent the 2d Amendmend really is. If all the Syrian people where are armed as well as the average American citizen, the Syrian government would not be killing them in droves. The only arms that the people have are ones that they took from government troops or bought off the black market. There is nothing the average Syrian can do except throw rocks and dodge bullets. That just "ain't" a fair fight. Throught out history, any government that disarmed its population, controlling all the people and could do anything it liked, IE., Stalin, Moa, Pol Pot and Hitler are just some that come to mind. Killed millions and there was nothing they, the people, could do about.

You bet, Syria could be big trouble for the Middle East. Especially Israel, since they are such close friends of that state. (Said in jest, for those that can read satire.)

What will the US do if Syria attacks Israel? I would hope that we come to Israel's aid, but with the current administration, who knows. Then again, can the US afford another war in the Middle East? Where is all this money coming from to fight these "undeclared wars."

Lastly, remember that when politicans talk about gun control, what they really are talking about is "PEOPLE CONTROL." He who as the guns and gold makes all the rules.

[Guest]

Bucco, actions like this just show how really importent the 2d Amendmend really is. If all the Syrian people where are armed as well as the average American citizen, the Syrian government would not be killing them in droves. The only arms that the people have are ones that they took from government troops or bought off the black market. There is nothing the average Syrian can do except throw rocks and dodge bullets. That just "ain't" a fair fight. Throught out history, any government that disarmed its population, controlling all the people and could do anything it liked, IE., Stalin, Moa, Pol Pot and Hitler are just some that come to mind. Killed millions and there was nothing they, the people, could do about.

You bet, Syria could be big trouble for the Middle East. Especially Israel, since they are such close friends of that state. (Said in jest, for those that can read satire.)

What will the US do if Syria attacks Israel? I would hope that we come to Israel's aid, but with the current administration, who knows. Then again, can the US afford another war in the Middle East? Where is all this money coming from to fight these "undeclared wars."

Lastly, remember that when politicans talk about gun control, what they really are talking about is "PEOPLE CONTROL." He who as the guns and gold makes all the rules.

Gun control aside, the Syria-Israel thing is of great concern. IF you read the weapons that Syria has amassed, this is not a confrontation that we want to have anywhere, but in the ME it can become..well, it is not a nice thought.

This is something to keep a close eye on....

[Guest]

Bucco, you have that right. But would we come to Israel's aid if attacked? With Syria's large stock of chemical weapons would the American people stand for the mass casualites this would cause to our troops? Would this administration even consider using American troops? And the 64 billion dollar questions is: Where would we get the troops, equipment, etc., to fight a 4th, as they said about Vietnam, "police action",

[Guest]

This is sounding so much like Lybia...

"Syrian rights activists and residents say government security forces and tanks have carried out fresh raids on houses in central Syria, searching for anti-government activists in an ongoing crackdown against dissent.

The activists said the raids Wednesday included troops in the flashpoint city of Hama.

The operations come a day after the United States announced it is widening sanctions on Syria. The new asset-freezes and bans on business interactions include Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, presidential adviser Bouthaina Shaaban, and Syria's ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdul Karim Ali."

And further in the article...

"Activists say protests calling for Mr. Assad's ouster have grown more frequent since the fall of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi."


http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Syrian-Activists-Say-Troops-Raid-Central-City-128763968.html

I do not envy the administration as this is a very touchy and potentially very dangerous situation.

[Guest]

The inevitable now....

"Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday warned against the United States taking "control" of the uprisings that have swept the Arab world, state television reported."

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.ee159abe0e0b3f7c4e870162182b623 3.2c1&show_article=1

Scary is this comment in the article...

"Tehran has supported the protests in all Arab countries except Syria, its main Arab ally. It has has repeatedly criticised interference by the United States and the West, particularly in Libya but also in Bahrain. "

I also offer, although never quite as exciting as attacking someone like Christine Odonnell...the following which is quite a twist, in my opinion, on the middle east and our political responses there...

"“BEYOND LEADERSHIP crises, changing tactics and mounting operations is one steadfast reality: al-Qaeda’s indispensable, long-term and utterly reliable ally—Washington’s interventionist foreign policy—remains the group’s true center of gravity. It is a galvanizing force which cannot be harmed, let alone destroyed, until U.S. leaders in politics, the media, religion (especially evangelical Protestants), the military and the academy begin to accept the truth; that is, the United States government is hated by most Muslims for what it does in the Islamic world, and not for how Americans think and behave at home…"

http://www.raceforiran.com/challenging-conventional-wisdom-on-al-qaida-is-it-stronger-today-than-when-it-first-declared-war-against-america%e2%80%a6and-if-so-why

It is suggested that the more we are involved in ANY mid east politics, the more the group al-Qaeda is strengthened...that the hate that is shown is NOT with the american people but with our interference in affairs in the ME.

Quite a tightrope for this country to walk with such dire circumstances should we stumble.

You might want to also do some reading on the situation in Bahrain, where we and the British support the government but there is a pro democratic movement and yes....violence but we are not hearing any of this.
Of course the other side of the arguement is to back the uprising which we do, and frankly my fear on this is that we know what we are getting in this area.